Soviet Adventures in the Land of the Capitalists: Ilf and Petrov’s American Road Trip by Lisa A.Kirschenbaum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024. 340 pp. $39.99. ISBN 978‐1‐00‐900891‐4

This book must have been fun to research and write because it was certainly an enjoyable read. In a well-structured and engaging narrative, Lisa A. Kirschenbaum uses the two-month-long journey the two “Soviet funnymen” Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov undertook through the United States in 1935 as a lens to look at the process of traveling and what it means for perceptions of both oneself and the other. Retracing the famous road trip is an ingenious way to look at Soviet-American relations and “the preconceptions and misconceptions that shaped and sometimes limited efforts to understand the Other” (p. 13). Soviet Adventures in the Land of the Capitalists argues that cultural and personal encounters are best understood when analyzed from both sides, and Kirschenbaum uses her in-depth knowledge of Soviet history to analyze Ilf and Petrov’s understanding of American people, culture, and places, which was unavoidably shaped by their own Soviet context. Ilf and Petrov’s travelogue, Odnoetazhnaia Amerika or Little Golden America, was published both in the Soviet Union and the United States in 1937, in Russian and English, respectively. The fact that a humorous account about America was published and widely read during such a dangerous time in the Soviet Union is extraordinary, and it has certainly lived on in both countries as a cultural phenomenon. The book was the duo’s last joint work, as Ilf, already sick during the trip, died in April 1937. The structure of this book follows Ilf and Petrov’s itinerary. Part I looks at America and its appeal to foreigners; Part II takes us through New York and the eastern states; Part III follows the drive from Chicago to the Pacific Ocean; Part IV investigates “The Golden State” and the authors’ Hollywood dreams; and, finally, the journey comes to an end in Part V with an emphasis on recurrent topics such as American racism and democracy. This approach allows for an in-depth analysis of how Ilf and Petrov’s Soviet expectations of American culture and values were challenged along the way, while also creating a sense of the way the travelers felt during the trip. The reader feels with the pair when they are tired and homesick—and wonders about the stamina they had for going to the movies every night (with very few exceptions). The geographic approach also allows Kirschenbaum to delve deeper into how they approached certain “Amerikanizms,” such as race, food culture, workers’ conditions, and the conditions of Native Americans. Chapter 15, “The Nationalities Question,” shows well how applying “Soviet categories to American realities” was an oversimplification of both national contexts (p. 157). In one of the final chapters, “Racism and Democracy,” we also learn how the Popular Front against fascism influenced Ilf and Petrov’s decision to downplay the tensions in American race relations, emphasizing how in addition to their personal Soviet background, international politics driven by the Soviet vision of world order also impacted their narrative. Kirschenbaum’s personal retracing of the trip, including the rephotographing of Ilf’s photos, emphasizes that there is more to the craft of the historian than reading archival documents and analyzing them in the appropriate historiographical context. At its best, historical analysis is investigative work that weaves together different source categories—public and private, oral and written, visual and text—and it applies interdisciplinary methods and databases where it is appropriate. In addition to reflecting on her methods, the author is also aware of how her own identity as an American expert on Soviet history impacts her approach, analysis, and perceptions. In recent years, COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine impacted the way we work as historians, and Kirschenbaum addresses how these events made her aware of both her work as a historian, the role of the past in the present, and ultimately “the precarity of Russian-American relations” (p. 328). By literally traveling the same route and by tracing hints of Ilf and Petrov’s presence and interactions in various local and regional archives and newspapers, Kirschenbaum manages to add a new depth to our understanding of Soviet-American cultural relations that takes into account the complexity of mutual perceptions and the often overlooked personal agency in their formation and maintenance. Methodologically sound and innovative, this book will impact how we approach travel accounts as a genre in historical analysis. Weaving the research—including the retracing and the rephotographing—into the narrative while also casting light on contemporary events allows for a fresh look at a story that has been well known for a long time. Soviet Adventures in the Land of the Capitalists: Ilf and Petrov’s American Road Trip provides the ultimate account of this legendary trip and will be cited for years to come.